Close on the heels of suspension of Home Secretary Sarvesh Chandra Mishra on Sunday, the State Government further cracked down over ‘letter controversy’ when they also shunted out Principal Secretary (Home) RM Srivastava and replaced him by 1979 batch IAS officer Anil Kumar Gupta, on Tuesday morning.
Soon after taking charge, Gupta said that he sees no deterioration in law and order and that his immediate priority is to ensure peace in Faizabad during ‘Sankalp Diwas’ of Vishwa Hindi Parishad as well as to avert any untoward incident during festivals of both the two prominent communities. RM Srivastava has been kept in waiting.
The removal of RM Srivastava comes in the wake of the issuance of a controversial letter last week by the Home Department which erroneously stated agenda of a meeting about reconstruction of Ayodhya temple on the lines of Somnath temple of Gujarat. Faced with much embarrassment on the issue, the State Government has already suspended two officials including Home Secretary. Departmental enquiry has been also ordered in the matter.